Pure Science

Smithsonian Magazine

The snowdrop, or Galanthus, blooms when the world is still frozen. Gardeners enamored with the plant gather each year in Pennsylvania to celebrate its subtleties and endurance

Smithsonian Magazine

Like the lead character of “Project Hail Mary,” some scientists are proposing ways that life might exist beyond a star’s “habitable zone,” often considered the gold standard of potential livability

Smithsonian Magazine

By snatching chloroplasts from algae, animals called sacoglossans produce their own energy through photosynthesis

Smithsonian Magazine

Mycologists cultivated fungi they found in post-wildfire landscapes to understand the evolutionary traits behind their ability to thrive in the wake of flames

Smithsonian Magazine

Researchers around the world are attempting to create a safer and more effective treatment in hopes of saving hundreds of thousands of lives

Smithsonian Magazine

After scientists accidentally discovered that the common eastern bumblebee can withstand flood conditions, they wanted to investigate what makes that super-ability possible

Smithsonian Magazine

Efforts to improve the “swimmability” of urban areas are gaining global traction, from Paris to Chicago

Smithsonian Magazine

Brazil’s Pantanal region has the highest jaguar density on Earth, drawing camera-toting visitors to its riverbanks. Despite overtourism concerns, one enclave may offer a model for how to protect the charismatic apex predator

Smithsonian Magazine

A recent survey highlights variation in the training credentials and experience across the burgeoning industry, which is mostly unregulated and unlicensed

Smithsonian Magazine

For more than a century, paleontologists have been piecing together how the mysterious predator Andrewsarchus is related to other mammals, like the extinct “hell pigs” and “wolves with hooves”

Smithsonian Magazine

Petroglyphs on sandstone at a national park in Chad bear witness to wildlife that once roamed the area before the continent’s water largely receded 6,000 years ago. Could it return?

Smithsonian Magazine

The world’s largest colony of northern gannets was decimated by bird flu in 2022. Now, as their numbers climb again, researchers are collecting data to understand the virus’ lasting effects

Smithsonian Magazine

Killing the predators is not nearly as effective as the intimidating presence of well-trained guardians, a role some breeds have played for 5,000 years

Smithsonian Magazine

Since their domestication, horses have changed the course of human history. It’s no wonder the Chinese zodiac associates them with prosperity and success

Smithsonian Magazine

Warming temperatures are wreaking havoc at elevation, upending the Winter Olympics and the tourism industry and imperiling communities

Smithsonian Magazine

Researchers are uncovering the evolutionary steps that set the stage for dinosaurs to rule the planet

Smithsonian Magazine

Wild fringe-lipped bats spend just one-tenth of the night in flight, but they can precisely snatch a calling frog and nab prey that rivals their own size

Smithsonian Magazine

They race, they spin, they shoot. Meet the organisms for which physical prowess is more than sport—it’s a matter of life and death

Smithsonian Magazine

Rove beetles cloak themselves in ant pheromones to sneak into the insects’ nests for protection. But in an odd catch-22, that makes them forever reliant on their hosts

Smithsonian Magazine

Recent counts of the Wadden Sea’s adult harbor seal population have revealed a surprising trend of decline, prompting a consortium of researchers to investigate whether the animals are dying off, relocating or experiencing something else...

Smithsonian Magazine

Recent discoveries about an alvarezsaur called Manipulonyx have drawn renewed attention to this group of bird-like, clawed creatures and the mysteries around their anatomy and behavior

Smithsonian Magazine

Scientists undertook the first comprehensive assessment of how often snakes eat their own, uncovering reports of the behavior in more than 200 species

Smithsonian Magazine

Synthetic pheromones may be a promising tool in attracting and culling troublesome crown-of-thorns starfish, which rapidly eat large amounts of coral on the Great Barrier Reef

Smithsonian Magazine

The animals' extended lower jaws were seemingly made for scooping, but research over the past few decades has found they could do a lot more than initially expected

Smithsonian Magazine

A new decade-long study tracked 37 penguin colonies and found that the birds are breeding earlier. The shift marks one way among many that climate change is transforming life at the bottom of the world

Smithsonian Magazine

Nature’s wintry accessory, icicles help beautify snowy landscapes

Smithsonian Magazine

The strategy, known as synthetic biology, is gaining momentum globally as a conservation tool and human health solution, despite attracting some critics

Smithsonian Magazine

Neuroscientists are tracking the brain activity that underlies a cognitive breakthrough and unraveling how it might boost memory

Smithsonian Magazine

As increased industrial activity puts fragile deep-sea ecosystems at risk, one artist is raising awareness about imperiled corals through scientific model making

Smithsonian Magazine

These underground rodents are the first mammals found to actively choose air with lower-than-normal oxygen levels. Their remarkable ability to survive these conditions could offer a key model for researchers studying new treatments for...

Smithsonian Magazine

A recent study suggests that the large mammals may seek out parts of bananas and papayas when they’re suffering from gut parasites, sparking a cross-species exchange of pharmaceutical knowledge

Smithsonian Magazine

Inexpensive to raise and insatiably hungry for trash, black soldier fly larvae are already on the menu for livestock, pets and, maybe soon, people

Smithsonian Magazine

Scheduled to launch in early 2026, NASA's Artemis 2 is part of the bold 21st-century vision for returning astronauts to the lunar surface

Smithsonian Magazine

These "total monsters of fishes" are extinct today, though new clues about their lives come from CT scans and their closest living relatives: the big-eyed ratfish of the deep sea

Smithsonian Magazine

Some residents along the Gulf Coast are creating habitat for the endangered birds on their properties, but development, saltwater intrusion and bird flu are putting pressure on the species' recovery

Smithsonian Magazine

A visit to the Falkland Islands, where the fearless seabirds navigate the rugged topography with tenacious spunk, shows the new challenges they face

Smithsonian Magazine

Three experts share the science behind taking a dip in cold water—and offer safety tips that any potential plungers should bear in mind

Smithsonian Magazine

The upcoming year will offer a blood-red moon, spectacular meteor showers and the first glimpse of the sun’s corona since April 2024

Smithsonian Magazine

With studies of fossilized bones, gut contents, eggshells and more, paleontologists revealed new and captivating details about the enormous reptiles that once roamed the Earth

Smithsonian Magazine

All year long, these moments captivated the public, demonstrated dangerous trends, and pushed research and innovation forward

Smithsonian Magazine

David Rankin of the Catalina Sky Survey in Arizona spends nights scanning the solar system for potentially catastrophic space rocks. Here’s what he has to say about that “high consequence” work, an interstellar comet and living with...

Smithsonian Magazine

A wave of fresh science is challenging a century-old treatment and offering hope to the people snakebites harm most—often far from hospitals and help

Smithsonian Magazine

You can see the large white seabirds dancing, preening, feeding and raising young—though the live feed might show a dark side of island living, too, with potential predation from invasive mice

Smithsonian Magazine

For the first time, scientists have cryopreserved and revived the larvae of a sea star species. The breakthrough, made with the giant pink star, gives hope the technique could be repeated to save the imperiled predator

Smithsonian Magazine

When Illinois landowners noticed tree deaths and diseases on their properties ramp up in 2017, they suspected industrial agriculture. A survey found herbicides in 90 percent of tree tissues

Smithsonian Magazine

Our planet’s magnetosphere has seen dramatic shifts across its history—even total reversals—but this recent wrinkle doesn’t pose a threat to life

Smithsonian Magazine

Chunks of satellites and pieces of debris falling from space are causing trouble down here on Earth

Smithsonian Magazine

Critics argue the satellites, billed as a way to harness solar energy at night, could hamper sky observations and may pose a threat to human and animal health

Smithsonian Magazine

From “experimental archaeology” to the mysterious appeal of exploration, the wide-ranging subjects detailed in these titles captivated Smithsonian magazine’s science contributors this year

Smithsonian Magazine

People infected with HIV must take antiretroviral drugs for life. But engineered antibodies appeared to suppress the virus for certain participants in recent trials in Africa and Europe